The years after the millennium showed a continued marked trend of decentralisation. The cultural spending of local governments grew by about 78% between 2002 and 2007, when the cumulated inflation was less than 30%. For example, cities spent over 95% more on museums than five years earlier; over 50% more on libraries, local television, music and other arts respectively. This trend took a sharp turn after 2010 and by 2012 the central government became a stronger single public funder than the regional and local sources cumulatively. A part of the explanation is the restructuring in the museum sector, whereby the state took charge of a number of institutions.
Table 5: Public cultural expenditure: by level of government, in HUF, in EUR, in %, 2014
| Level of government |
Total expenditure in billion HUF |
Total expenditure in million EUR |
% share of total | % share of GDP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | 162.9 | 525.4 | 56% | 0.5% |
| Regional (19 counties) and local | 127.7 | 412.1 | 44% | 0.4% |
| TOTAL | 290.6 | 937.5 | 100% | 0.9% |
Source: Eurostat COFOG (cultural services)
Maintaining central cultural institutions (including cultural institutes abroad as well as the administration of the ministry) takes up a considerable share of the state expenditure. Individual cultural projects were mainly subsidised from the National Cultural Fund. In 2012, the total amount allocated by the Fund was 10.3 billion HUF. Since 2010 the main source of the budget of the Fund is the National Lottery.
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